Budget Buster - Cable Bill Increase!

[dtr_angel]

I know this has been talked about a lot in the past...

I have Atlantic Broadband, and they have a monopoly in my small area as the only cable provider. The service is good, but too expensive I think. Our first year, we got TV/Phone/Internet + the DVR box with extra channels for $130/month. They don't tell you that it's only good for one year, so last Feb it went up to $154. We went rounds with them for a month, but they wouldn't not budge on the price no matter what we said, did, or talked to. Well, it's a year later and now our package is up to $174.xx - that's $2100/year and I will not stand for that. The problem is, I need internet for school and I can't have an interruption in service because of that. It looks like we could go with a triple play package from Verizon, I guess they have internet service in our area now. It looks like I could get almost the same thing for about $75/month for the first year, but then who knows how much it will be. The only reason I am hesitant is because it is direct TV and I've never had satellite and of course I've heard horror stories about it...

I'm looking for some input on why I should switch to the verizon triple play - some insight about direct TV, and anything else anyone can tell me... thanks!

 

[elcodfish]

I live in Western NY and have had Directv for 6 years now and have been happy with them. They do however take FOREVER in coming out for service which can be annoying. During REALLY heavy storms I have lost reception, but that is maybe 10 times a year. I would call them, get a rate quote and call your cable company back and see if they can beat it.

 

[dtr_angel]

We tried that last year with Atlantic Broadband, no dice - they won't match other companies offers. Plus, Direct TV is satellite, and they are cable so they will say it is not the same thing. There are no other cable companies in my area. Dish network or Direct TV are my only other TV options. Verizon is the only other carrier of TV & phone here, so my options are limited.

If nothing else, I can keep Verizon for a year, cancel and go back to Atlantic Broadband as a new customer and get their into prices again.

Verizon is going to be 88.xx for the first year

 

[MissAndrea]

Do you absolutely have to have cable and phone? Would it be possible for you to have internet only? We got rid of home phones 6+ years ago and haven't had cable in a few years. We pay for 10mg internet only and it's $57/mo (just paid the bill so I remember ). If you primarily use your cell phone then and could nix the land line. And most shows can all be watched online now so you won't miss your favorites. Just a thought worth mentioning.

 

[cglaura]

I agree with pp, drop the tv and phone and just keep internet. Check with the pricing first. With Comcast, it is actually less money to have basic cable and internet than just internet alone, because you get a bundle discount regardless of the tier you bundle. Basic cable + performance internet $57. Performance internet alone $59.95 So weird!

My cable and internet is $57
My phone with Verizon is $27

I also subscribe to Netflix and Hulu Plus ($17). My mom gave us a Roku box for Christmas. I love that thing. I can't remember the last time I actually watched cable tv. I only keep it for the savings bundle on the internet!

So even with those extras it could save you $70 month if their prices are similar to Comcast.

For long distance calls I get the bogo cards at Rite Aid when they are on sale. I don't make alot of LD calls though, so that is only about $10 a year if that.

 

[katesorad]

Sheesh.. I have basic cable and internet from Time Warner Cable San Diego and we pay $110 a month! It's ridiculous. But I think that it's the only thing offered for us, other than Direct TV, etc.

 

[LIFERBABE]

We have the basic dish package 120 channels and is up to $58. Most of it is shopping channels, so Im ready to dump it.

All I need is local channels for news and internet.

We are looking at our options, tired of paying for things we dont use.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I have internet only and it is $33/month.

 

[dtr_angel]

thanks for the replies, we're trying to figure out what to do but staying on the Atlantic Broadband triple play for $175/month is not an option. We're probably going with Verizon.

We actually use all the services, which is why it would be hard to get rid of them. We have a very cheap cell phone plan (we share 450 minutes) so we use the land line a lot, and all of my family is out of town so I can't imagine paying for long distance. I don't care about the speed of internet, just as long as I have it as I am a student and use it for school daily. As for the TV & DVR... I'm sad to say that between work & school, I really have no friends or a social life. I go to school at night and I watch a lot of TV shows that I tape and I look forward to watching them as it is my social life. I know I can watch my ABC Family, CW, and ABC shows online for free but we also watch some other stuff - for instance, we've been watching all the Doogie Howser episodes on The Hub that I'm not sure I can watch online for free. I don't really care about the movie channels, but now we get Starz & Encore (and Starz & Encore on demand for free - we do watch some free movies occasionally) included in our package, and we do watch some of the high number channels like teen nick, soap net, etc. Can I do without watching TV shows? Yes, I'm sure I could but like I said, we watch it a good bit and it's not the same when we have to sit in front of a small laptop screen to watch something together instead of being comfortable in our living room. But if one of us lost our jobs, the cable would be the first thing to go.

 

[cglaura]

I love Doogie

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=doogie&st=0&fs=

Hulu has alot of free stuff.

I wish I could find Gilmore Girls somewhere. That is one show I watched daily and actually miss.

As for the other stuff....it takes getting used to and you will miss it at first, but only you can decide how important it is and if the cost is worth it to you since it is your main entertainment. Maybe you can cancel the cable part for a month before picking up another provider...see how you do? Does it have to be bundled?

If you could get something like Roku box, you can hook that up to your tv to stream something like netflix or hulu. You can hook it up via home wireless or wired/firewire. The box was $50. No other fees except the netflix/hulu. The netflix would take care of the movie part anyway.

 

[dtr_angel]

I love Doogie

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=doogie&st=0&fs=

Hulu has alot of free stuff.

I wish I could find Gilmore Girls somewhere. That is one show I watched daily and actually miss.

As for the other stuff....it takes getting used to and you will miss it at first, but only you can decide how important it is and if the cost is worth it to you since it is your main entertainment. Maybe you can cancel the cable part for a month before picking up another provider...see how you do? Does it have to be bundled?

If you could get something like Roku box, you can hook that up to your tv to stream something like netflix or hulu. You can hook it up via home wireless or wired/firewire. The box was $50. No other fees except the netflix/hulu. The netflix would take care of the movie part anyway.

What is a roku box? We already have netflix that we can stream through the Wii, is it the same thing as that?

 

[dtr_angel]

Can you get Gilmore Girls thorough Netflix? I just looked breifly at a roku box on amazon so I have an idea of what it is now... do the shows on Hulu plus come from the current TV season, or past ones? Or is there a way to watch new episodes on TV shows (like last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy, for example) on my TV instead of my laptop? I'm just trying to learn all I can before we make a decision.

For those of you who gave up cable - how do you watch sporting events if you want to? Do you just check scores online? I'm a big NCAA basketball fan and it's almost March Madness!

 

[Bren's Mom]

If you're happy with the service you have now, just not the price this is what I'd do:

Find the best deal around for the levels of service you have now with another provider. i.e. If Verizon's Triple Play is less then call and get all the details for that, upfront and install charges, etc.

Then with that info in hand, call your current provider, choose the option to cancel service, and then when you get someone on the line tell them you can't keep paying the higher fees per month, that Verizon is $X less expensive and you want to confirm whether or not you have any cancellation fees before you make the change.

At that point what will most likely happen is a retention specialist will get on the phone and, hopefully, get your bill down to something you're happy with to get you to stay.

If they don't and won't budge on the price or offer you anything then no harm done. Get the info confirming no cancellation fees and let them know you'll call back when you have the install date with the new company.

You'll be no worse off than you are now so it can't hurt to try!

 

[cglaura]

Can you get Gilmore Girls thorough Netflix? I just looked breifly at a roku box on amazon so I have an idea of what it is now... do the shows on Hulu plus come from the current TV season, or past ones? Or is there a way to watch new episodes on TV shows (like last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy, for example) on my TV instead of my laptop? I'm just trying to learn all I can before we make a decision.

For those of you who gave up cable - how do you watch sporting events if you want to? Do you just check scores online? I'm a big NCAA basketball fan and it's almost March Madness!

Sadly no Gilmore Girls on Netflix. You can get the mailed DVD though.

Roku is very similar to Wii. I don't think you'd need both.

Hulu Plus has shows a few days after they air. For example, Parenthood is a Tuesday night show and comes out Friday or Saturday.

I just checked Hulu Plus for Grey's and the last episode available is Pretty Young Things, which acc'd to my google search was from Feb 10th? ETA: Duh, you just said last night's episode lol, googlfornaught

They have a 1 week free trial you can get.

But if you think you will buy the Roku then wait, b/c with that you get a 1 month free trial.

You can add subscriptions to any show on Hulu, so it acts like a favorites (comes w/ your Hulu, not extra$).

I just found Firefly, I can't believe I totally missed that show was on tv. I love it!

 

[perdidochas]

thanks for the replies, we're trying to figure out what to do but staying on the Atlantic Broadband triple play for $175/month is not an option. We're probably going with Verizon.

We actually use all the services, which is why it would be hard to get rid of them. We have a very cheap cell phone plan (we share 450 minutes) so we use the land line a lot, and all of my family is out of town so I can't imagine paying for long distance. I don't care about the speed of internet, just as long as I have it as I am a student and use it for school daily. As for the TV & DVR... I'm sad to say that between work & school, I really have no friends or a social life. I go to school at night and I watch a lot of TV shows that I tape and I look forward to watching them as it is my social life. I know I can watch my ABC Family, CW, and ABC shows online for free but we also watch some other stuff - for instance, we've been watching all the Doogie Howser episodes on The Hub that I'm not sure I can watch online for free. I don't really care about the movie channels, but now we get Starz & Encore (and Starz & Encore on demand for free - we do watch some free movies occasionally) included in our package, and we do watch some of the high number channels like teen nick, soap net, etc. Can I do without watching TV shows? Yes, I'm sure I could but like I said, we watch it a good bit and it's not the same when we have to sit in front of a small laptop screen to watch something together instead of being comfortable in our living room. But if one of us lost our jobs, the cable would be the first thing to go.

Do your friends and family away have cell phones? If so, and they are mostly the same network calling is free (for example, if they are all on verizon, if you get a verizon phone you get free mobile to mobile minutes, regardless of long distance). Does your cable company have a "basic" option, which is only local channels?

 

[perdidochas]

Can you get Gilmore Girls thorough Netflix? I just looked breifly at a roku box on amazon so I have an idea of what it is now... do the shows on Hulu plus come from the current TV season, or past ones? Or is there a way to watch new episodes on TV shows (like last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy, for example) on my TV instead of my laptop? I'm just trying to learn all I can before we make a decision.

For those of you who gave up cable - how do you watch sporting events if you want to? Do you just check scores online? I'm a big NCAA basketball fan and it's almost March Madness!

On Hulu you can get last night's Grey's anatomy online.

I don't watch sports, except the occasional Saints or Alabama game, so I don't know about that. I almost gave up cable, but Cox cable gave me a great deal--$70 for normal cable (i.e. local channels, discovery channel (and other channels like that), no digital, no premium channels) and internet.

 

[dtr_angel]

What we're looking at doing now is keeping our phone & internet through atlantic broadband, and getting direct TV. If we do that, phone & internet is $71/month with the internet speed we have now (preffered? I don't know the difference) or we can downgrade to a slower internet speed + phone for $62/month. We use the internet a lot - my husband for work, and me for school but I don't know if we "need" the preferred speed. Direct TV would be about $55/month so either way we'd be saving a lot over what we pay now, or would be paying if we stay with the plan we currently have. I don't know what to do!

 

[Angeni11]

For phone service you might want to look into Vonage. It is voice over IP so you have to have an internet connection but we have had them for 6 years now and love it. I think ours with taxes and stuff comes to under $35 per month and it includes long distance to not only the US but Canada, UK and many other countries. They usually have a good offer going on for new customers too.

Hubby is from the UK so it is great that we can call his family and friends all the time and it doesn't cost us extra. As well as many friends we have in other countries.

 

[dtr_angel]

I just wanted to thank everyone for the replies to this thread. This is what we decided... we're keeping atlantic broadband for internet & phone, but downgrading to a slower speed (I doubt we'll even notice!) for $62/month. Our bill for Direct TV will be 47.99/month. That's $110/month so we've saving over $45/month less than what we had been paying for the last year, or $65/month less than what we would be paying if we didn't make any changes. And since we just found out we're going to WDW this May, or DLR this July (depending on which week vacation bid my husband gets from work) every $$ saved is for Disney!

 

[Nayan]

Remember though that monthly bill for Direct Tv is only for the first year and they require you to sign up for 2 with a hefty fee if you want out before then. Also, if you have any nicks on your credit report they can, and will, charge you around $300 for the equipment up front. That's a big reason why I stick with cable.